Summary

After positions in Braunschweig and Cologne, timpanist Rainer Seegers became a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1986, during the Karajan era. Following decades under the direction of Karajan’s successors Claudio Abbado and Sir Simon Rattle, the musician retired shortly before Kirill Petrenko took up office in the summer of 2019. In this film portrait, Seegers can be seen in concert excerpts and interviews. The timpanist, who devotes his free time to collecting butterflies, lepidopterology, with great expertise, talks about the friendly atmosphere among the Philharmoniker, and he demonstrates that you can even play melodies on the timpani.